The Ethics of Analysis

The profession of professional analysis does not, in and of itself, have a written code of ethics. It is not taught to us directly in graduate school as one in an MBA program might take the requisite class in business ethics. Additionally, our field is so wide open and can be applied to every aspect of human endeavor that most would feel the addition of ethics to our curriculum is unnecessary. Yet who are we to judge what is at it’s heart the simple application of a mathematical technique to a solve problem. It is not the applied math that is evil but rather it’s application with disregard for the dangers or with nefarious intent that creates the problem. Exactly. It is not the handgun that is evil; it is the human behind the handgun. The untrained hand that causes an accidental death, or perhaps lacking in the moral understanding of the sanctity of human life. The result is the same. A handgun is an extreme analogy.

A car would be a better analogy. Clearly a car cannot be evil in and of itself (discounting the massive negative impact it’s life-cycle has on the environment). A criminal, as a new example, needs a getaway car, the driver of which may or may not be a witting participant. The car itself is but a tool to make a hasty escape. It is an inanimate and completely neutral object. The driver however, can choose to drive, or can question the passengers who hastily jumped on board with bulging satchels and what appears to be members of law enforcement in hot pursuit. If we as analysts did our job correctly, we would have obtained a fast car, we would have checked the traffic reports, we would have a good map with a planned route. We also would have a GPS for backup, a spare tire, and jack onboard. Wouldn’t want to be the get away driver feeling foolish asking for help on the freeway if a tire goes flat. In fact, we could do the very best planning and have taken great pride in our efforts only to find that we are simply in the midst of a serious crime.

How do we avoid this? Most bank robbers (sorry for the sterotype) want employees who don’t ask questions – coincidentaly most organizations want employees who are loyal and salute smartly – we call them team players. But here we find ourselves in one of the few professions where, in order for us to do our job to the best of our ability, we must ask many probing questions – questions that the boss might rather not answer. If you want the fastest travel time between the building on 17th street and the expressway, I recommend we drive the route before or after rush hour. But the bank is not open during rush hour – what a stupid question. Oh, I didn’t know you were going to be at the bank, I was just working on the fastest travel time. How long will you be in the bank, is there parking on the street just out front? During rush hour, a lot of people take the bus, it’s really hell being down town during those hours, can you take the bus? No. How about the subway? No. Why not? Because we will be in a Hurry? Why such a hurry, do you have to catch a plane? I wasn’t planning to drive you to the airport – but if that’s the case, perhaps a helicopter would be a better vehicle? I could pick you up in the park adjacent to the bank and pop you straight over to the airport.

Well that option is too expensive. I can’t afford a helicopter. OK, how much can you afford? Taxi drivers know the best routes and are the best drivers in the city at that time? Well I hired you to drive so I don’t want to hire a taxi cab? But clearly a taxi would be your best choice and since I want only the best for you I would advise you to fire me and plan on grabbing a cab when you come out. Well I need a driver who will take me any where I want to go? Yes, most cab drivers will. But I need the driver to be discrete? Ok, that is a new requirement; I was unaware of the discrete nature of your transportation needs. I can be very discrete – but I suspect so can a few cab drivers. But since you will not have control of exactly which cabbie you might hire, I think we can agree that I should drive. Yes I have already decided that you should drive – and I have already picked out a car and picked out the route for you to travel.

Oh, you just want someone to drive the car, not to help solve the problem, I’m sorry you just want a mindless, faceless, driver who doesn’t think. You’ve offered me a lot of money to drive this car for you, I think you could save a lot of money and hire a dumb driver for a lot less. Well I don’t want some incompetent ape driving the car – that would be worse than hiring a cabbie. Well that’s why I was trying to help, because I do think about the problems and typically can make the journey more efficient. What is it that you really are trying to do? We, I am robbing a bank and I need a get-away car.

Oh, why are you robbing a bank? If you need money and want to obtain it illegally, why not rob a convenience store, the get away is much cleaner. Not enough money in it for the risk. Ok, how about a grocery store? They have a lot of cash on hand. Well, I’m a bank robber, I’ve never robbed a grocery store. I wouldn’t know how to do it. Oh, well I’ve never robbed one either but I can definitely drive the getaway car. It would be much easier for me if the getaway is really independent of your action. But how about Internet fraud. If you really want money that is supposed to be a good way to get some – and it doesn’t require a get away car. I told you I am a bank robber – I would have to go back to school to learn how to use a computer – and you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

Ok, looks like the bank is your only option. Have you considered robbing the bank at night when the streets are clear. Yes, but that requires that I hire a safe cracker – and have you ever had to work with a safe cracker. They are some of the hardest people to work with. They think the whole job is about them. Without them there is no bank robbery. I vowed to stop working with them a long time ago. What about tunneling into the bank and blowing up the safe. You don’t need a safe cracker for that. No you are right. Tried that before too. I need a bigger team – and the payroll on this job is tight. Can’t get the big boss to give me a bigger budget. Have you demonstrated that the rate of return on a safe job will be much higher than that of the daylight teller pull? Yes, he knows that, but he is expecting a few lower paying less risky jobs than a high risk, capital-intensive job. We can use you and your car on a couple of jobs the same day. Oh, multiple get-aways on the same day, this is a traveling salesman problem. I studied this one in school. Now I think I understand the problem completely and will optimize our route through town to hit all of the banks and then escape through the tunnel. Let me get started.

OK, hopefully the point is made. Analysts must ask questions, they must understand the total problem, and they actually have to remove themselves from the problem in order to get to the truth, if there is something keeping them from that truth – like an illegal activity. Getting to the truth is like pulling teeth, particularly if the truth does not want to be revealed. Now, I have mentioned that this essay is not about the underlying ethics of the problem – it is about getting to the truth. To get to the truth, and our forth principal, the analyst must understand the entire problem, not just what was fed to them by someone who thought they understood the problem. Understanding the problem is the hardest part of the job, but the most important part. Truth can be discovered if the problem is understood. If the problem is never understood, how can there be a right answer? This does not, however, free them from the underlying ethics of the problem. If they are lost in the problem perhaps they can forget about the ethics until the problem is solved, but they cannot absolve themselves from the greater truth, if in the end, the solution is still illegal. Later I’ll devote an essay to helping you with principle number five. You cannot divorce the truth from it’s ethical meaning, no matter how good a solution you found.

For now, however, I would now like to concentrate on the profession of analysis itself – in pursuit of the truth, because although you might believe you are on path of the truth because you sought the right problem and asked the right questions, if you blew the analysis, the truth you hold in your hand might be a nicely written pack of lies.